Argentinians are getting ready for another war with the neoliberal forces of destruction as the IMF nightmare is about to return
As
Manuel E. Yepe, professor at the Higher Institute of International
Relations in Havana, wrote
back in 2016, in
Argentina, the newly-elected president, Mauricio Macri, moves forward
the implementation of his “democratic model” with a brutal
demolition of all the advances the nation had made after the collapse
it suffered as a result of the neoliberal economic and political
crisis from which it had been rescued by the consecutive popular
governments of Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Cristina
Kirchner, also
made
some important moves towards a
stronger
cooperation with Russia, which was something unacceptable for
Washington's hawks. Not only for geopolitical reasons, but also
because Argentina could escape from the vulture funds that sucking
its blood since its default. This would give the country an
alternative to the neoliberal monopoly of destruction.
The
US big banks and corporations would never accept such a perspective
because the debt-enslaved Argentina is a golden opportunity for a new
round of huge profits. It's happening
right now
in eurozone's debt colony, Greece, always with the help of the IMF,
one of the primary tools of the global neoliberal regime.
Argentinian
writer, journalist, and researcher Stella Calloni, explained
that violating
the constitution and the laws, and ruling by Necessity and Urgency
Decrees(NUDs) since December 2015, Macri took a road that evidently
seeks to deliver the country to the global hegemonic power and the
destruction of a work that had earned Argentina worldwide admiration
and respect. He
is delivering the country to the sinister designs of the
International Monetary Fund and other agencies, banks and foreign
institutions. All his economic actions favor the powerful and mark a
path of exclusion for the population.
With
Washington's darling in power, Macri, it was a matter of time for the
IMF mafia to return to the country. But Argentinians have very bad
memories from previous IMF presence. We all know now what IMF means:
a destructive tool which has the mission to loot public property in
favor of the private capital, and save bankers and 'investors' in
times of crises at the expense of the taxpayers.
Mark
Weisbrot,
co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research thinktank
in Washington DC, said that in theory getting a line of credit from
the IMF could help because it was like having additional reserves to
defend the peso without having to borrow them. “But
it depends on what conditions the IMF puts on it. The most likely
direction will be to reduce the current account deficit through
contracting the economy, which is of course not good for the majority
of Argentines. The IMF of course has a terrible history in Argentina,
in particular their role in deepening and prolonging the depression
of 1998-2001.”
And
the global neoliberal priesthood encouraged its current puppet to
implement the same mistakes that always lead to the typical failures.
As
Kavaljit Singh explains,
the current market turmoil may have come as a surprise to the
investor-friendly government of President Mauricio Macri. After
coming to power in late 2015, his government dismantled foreign
exchange controls and trade restrictions; adopted inflation targeting
with a freely floating exchange rate; settled disputes with private
foreign creditors; reduced subsidies on public services; and
undertook other market-friendly reforms to re-join the global capital
markets.
From
the IMF to global business leaders, all praised pro-market reforms
introduced by the Macri government. Just four months back, the IMF in
its 2017 Article IV Consultation with Argentina (issued on December
29, 2017) stated: “The
authorities should be commended for removing FX controls and trade
restrictions that severely limited Argentina’s integration into the
global economy.”
Recall
that, under the American pressure, countries like South Korea and
Thailand, withdrew all their restrictions allowing the inflow of
capital from the West in the late 90s. This helped for the so-called
“Asian miracle” in the economy.
The
Asian crisis began in Thailand. Hundreds of thousands of offices and
apartments were built, but nobody wanted them, and brokers went
bankrupt under the weight of loans. Investors from the West panicked
and rushed to get their money out of the country. The panic began to
spread first in South Korea. Housewives formed queues to give their
surplus to the government to save country, but this was not enough.
Then,
groups of technocrats of IMF arrived and offered billions of dollars
in loans to stabilize the economies. The IMF argued that the reason
of the crisis was that Asian economies were not westernized enough.
In exchange for loans, they should turn to free market models. This
meant cuts in government spending and elimination of the corruption
and nepotism of the power elites. The crisis worsened and spread to
Indonesia, whose president Suharto was an “emperor” enclosed by a
corrupt clique of advisors and family members. At first, he refused
to do what the IMF wanted, so the IMF turned to Robert Rubin.
Rubin
and the Treasury were determined to press Suharto to do what they
wanted. In January 1998, Suharto retreated and signed an agreement
with IMF. Indonesia received a huge loan to stabilize the economy
which worked for a while. But later, the Indonesian currency
collapsed, loosing 80% of its value and destroying the economy. The
exchange rate of the country collapsed and the economy went into free
fall. Indonesia was not the only one. In every country which received
loans from IMF, such as Thailand and South Korea, the economy was
stable for a while and then the exchange rate collapsed. Billions of
dollars were given to Asian banks from the IMF, but many of them were
used immediately to rescue western investors who wanted to take their
money out of the country.
Providing
billions of dollars in loans, the IMF rescued western investors and
pushed the taxpayers of the countries deeper into debt because they
had to repay the IMF. The result of the cuts was the destruction of
the area. In Indonesia, the government subsidies were removed as
instructed by the western bankers. Prices soared and within a few
months, in a country of more than 200 million, 15% of the male
workforce lost their jobs. Economic output fell by 14%. The economy
collapsed and ethnic and religious strife began. The same happened in
Thailand and South Korea. Millions of people went back into poverty
from which they thought they had escaped forever. By the mid 1998,
the Asian economies collapsed. It was the biggest disaster for
countries since the big recession of the 30s.
We've
seen the play, again, and again, and again. And yet, these neoliberal
priests insist to impose their failed model through IMF invasion in
national economies. No matter how many times it has failed, it
doesn't matter. For them it's a religion.
But
Argentinians didn't forget what happened 17 years ago and are getting
ready for another war with the neoliberal forces of destruction:
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